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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26569261">Goodbye Kisses</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sungazer_117/pseuds/sungazer_117'>sungazer_117</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Kiss for Every Occasion [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Gen, Morning Kisses, Portgas D. Ace Needs a Hug, Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:41:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,310</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26569261</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sungazer_117/pseuds/sungazer_117</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In his excitement about having his first solo-mission as a Commander, Ace ends up forgetting that the Whitebeards haven't learned all of his eccentricities just yet.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Kiss for Every Occasion [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1932424</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>167</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Goodbye Kisses</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I do not own One Piece.  Credit goes to the creator Eiichiro Oda.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ace was finally comfortable living on the Moby Dick.  He had come to cherish the crew that trusted him to be Commander of their Second Division.  Waking every morning to the soft scuffles of sleepy chefs pulling themselves out of bed to start breakfast or to the late night shanties that were belted out at dinner when everyone found themselves in the mess hall was not something he ever knew he would look forward to.  He naturally woke up at odd hours that changed day by day, his narcolepsy screwing his sleep schedule royally at the best of times.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thatch was one goofy face that would always be the same level of energized no matter what time Ace managed to rub the last whispers of sleep from his eyes, and he hoped that would never change.  Then there was Marco, who was the exact opposite.  The man never seemed to sleep and always looked tired because of it.  Ace oftentimes found himself falling asleep just by being in the Phoenix’s presence which inevitably landed him in trouble when he fell asleep in the middle of Commander Meetings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Today was a big day for Ace and he woke to the soft light of dawn flooding his room with color.  Despite his short duration as a member of the Whitebeards and his rather explosive method of handling conflict, he was heading out on his first solo mission as a Commander.  It was a relatively easy task, finding and disposing of a rookie pirate who was trying to show strength by picking on the wrong island.  Ace was eager to show them the error of their ways and prove that he was dependable.  It had been months since he had been away from the ship and his crewmates.  Waking up without them would be lonely, a thought that stirred up some feelings of sorrow within him.  He would be gone for nearly a week thanks to travel time, but he was far too excited to be letting such negative thoughts ruin his fun.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As it was, Ace forgot to quell a familiar urge rising up inside of him when it was finally time to leave.  He had his last bag slung over his shoulder and as he passed Izo in the hallway, he stopped the man long enough to stand up on his toes and plant a soft kiss on his cheek before carrying on like it was the most normal thing in the world.  Izo stood there, surprised more than anything as his fingers brushed gently against the warmth left behind by Ace’s surprisingly smooth lips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What wa-” he started to say, but Ace was on the move.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gotta go, Izo!  I’ve got a mission!” Ace called back, down the hall and around the corner before another word could be said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haruta was just arriving at his office when Ace spotted him.  The Twelfth Division Commander waved around the stack of papers he was lugging around to sort through.  Ace helped the man open the door with a grin before bending down and pecking the Commander’s cheek, leaving Haruta to stand there stiff as a board with nothing more than a wave over his shoulder.  Haruta stared at his well-toned back, and the proud Jolly Roger inked on it, seeing no signs of pain or anxiety, or disease for that matter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Acey!  You weren’t going to leave without saying goodbye to your best pal, were you?” Thatch cried, swooning on the top deck when Ace finally emerged.  The fire user laughed, walking to the side of the ship to drop his bag down into Striker.  He approached Thatch then, gratefully accepting the bag of snacks the chef had prepared just for him.  They clasped hands and shared a grin but Thatch froze when Ace invaded his personal space and placed a delicate kiss on his cheek.  He pulled away nonchalantly and walked up to Marco, who was deep in conversation with their Captain.  That didn’t stop him, however, much to Thatch’s confusion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace walked right up to him, putting one hand on Marco’s shoulder, his other coming up on the opposite side to hold the Phoenix’s stubbled chin long enough to kiss his cheek affectionately.  Marco blinked in surprise, cutting himself off mid sentence and staring at Ace, who had moved on to the nurses surrounding Pops’ deck chair.  He greeted them gently, chatting about the mission and regretfully not being able to stay and chat while kissing each one on the cheek in turn.  He was moving quickly but was careful not to mess up any of the makeup some of them were wearing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lastly, without any preamble or clear reason for doing so, he hopped up onto the armrest of Whitebeard’s chair.  Bracing himself on his father’s broad shoulder, Ace leaned over until he could plant one last kiss on his Captain.  Climbing down with all the grace of a sure-footed feline, he waltzed over to the rail and turned to grin one last time before leaping over the edge and onto Striker.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be back in a week!” he called to them, waving at the few who had gathered at the rails to see him off.  It was still early in the morning, so there wasn’t a long send off to be had, not that he had wanted one in the first place.  Ace turned his face towards his target, checking his eternal pose to make sure he was heading in the direction of an island.  Then he was gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Back on deck of the Moby Dick, the nurses were chittering amongst themselves about Ace’s strange behavior.  The rest affected were also doing the same.  Marco and Thatch were surprised to see Haruta and Izo emerge on the top decks.  Based on their confused expressions and the way they glanced around as if looking for something, or someone, Ace had gotten to them too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Does anyone know what that was about?” Thatch asked curiously.  A bunch of no’s were his answer.  Just then, an ex-Spade happened to walk by.  Haruta was quick to wrangle him into their circle with an arm around his neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eric!  Come here, brother, let me ask you something,” the intelligence Commander asked, acting entirely nonchalant.  The man seemed to realize that he had the attention of more than just one Commander at that moment, and swallowed nervously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is everything alright, Commander Haruta?” he asked nervously, glancing around at all of their intense faces.  The shorter man blinked in surprise before realizing the intimidating effect that so many strong people were leveling on one poor man.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?  Oh yeah, sorry Eric, you’re not in trouble or anything,” he said quickly, sliding off of him and shooting a few glares out at his brothers and sisters to get them to back off the poor soul.  Eric seemed relieved enough to lower his guard and answer honestly.  “Did Ace ever do anything… </span>
  <em>
    <span>weird</span>
  </em>
  <span> when he was Captain of the Spades?” Haruta asked quietly as if they were exchanging secrets.  Eric’s face morphed with exasperation at the vagueness of the question.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Define weird, Commander,” he shot back with a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest.  “You all know Ace, that man was probably raised by bandits or something with the way he acts on a regular basis,” he joked, but the irony was lost on all of them.  Haruta gave it a second try, determined to get to the bottom of the matter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Weird like </span>
  <em>
    <span>kissy </span>
  </em>
  <span>weird, c’mon you’ve got to know </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he amended his statement with a little detail and a lot of desperation, leaning in close just to emphasize the childish way of referring to what Ace had done.  Eric looked confused for a moment, but then he blinked twice and it dawned on him.  A gentle smile touched his face and it blossomed into a grin before Eric could stop himself.  Now they were certain he knew something about Ace’s sudden and uncharacteristically public displays of affection.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did he kiss all of you?” he asked with a soft chuckle, turning to see all of their quiet confirmations.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Even I was surprised when he climbed up the side of my chair to make sure I didn’t feel left out, my son,” Whitebeard’s deep voice swirled around them, settling comfortably over their worry.  Eric laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well he’s not sick or anything, so you don’t have to worry yourselves over whether or not he’ll come back alive.  Ace didn’t really do that with the Spades, and never spilled about it until we got him drunk one night and started sharing embarrassing stories.  At some point when he was still a brat someone taught him that if you’re leaving for a long while, or don’t know when you’re coming back and don’t want to say goodbye to someone, you should give them a kiss to show that you really love them,” he explained.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We found out ‘cause he used to do it with that little brother of his that he’s always gushing about.  He’s been talking about this damn mission all week, I bet he was too excited to remember he’s supposed to be broody and mysterious,” Eric said with a laugh, imagining the look on Ace’s face when he evidently realized what he had done before leaving.  He might not remember right away, but he would at some point on his journey.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Happy smiles tugged at all of the Commanders’ faces, and Whitebeard chuckled above them.  Even some of the nurses had blushes streaking over their noses as they cradled the cheeks that Ace had smooched without warning.  Thatch didn’t bother holding back his grin, slinging his arm around Eric’s shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He loves us?!” he asked excitedly, knowing that he had long since come to love the little matchstick.  They all had, for that matter.  The change that Ace had undergone from the first day he spent on their ship to the present was like comparing night and day.  To have confirmation that he felt the same about them in the form of an innocent childhood habit that he didn’t need to hide anymore, or didn’t realize that he had let slip, was enough to warm all of their hearts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey guys!  Has anyone seen my dagger?  I think I dropped it somewhere up here,” Ace’s voice called to them as he hauled himself over the side of the railing.  His eyes were scanning the deck, one hand holding his orange hat on top of his head to keep it from falling off.  In doing so, he didn’t see the mischievous smiles pass over his brothers’ and sisters’ faces.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Acey~” Thatch sing-songed, detaching his arm from Eric to throw himself at the young fire-user.  Ace ignored him for a moment, still searching the deck, until Thatch kissed the side of his face.  His scratchy goatee tickled Ace’s jaw and when he pulled back, the young pirate looked up in surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wha-?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Get him!” Haruta shouted, leading the charge as everyone on deck pounced on the Second Division Commander, smothering him with kisses.  Marco and Eric held themselves back, watching from a distance as their youngest brother was showered with love.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“H-Hey!  What are y-!  Get- off!” he cried, falling flat on his back when he was overwhelmed.  After a minute of laughter and obnoxious kissy noises, Ace was freed from his torture, scrambling to his feet and over to the side rail where he could at least protect his back from another ambush.  The crew laughed when they saw him, blushing furiously with lipstick smudges in various shades scattered around his torso.  The Commanders had monopolized his face while the nurses attacked his bare chest since Ace insisted on being their daily dose of eye candy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The only marks on his face were a perfect stamp from a pair of plump lips on the left side of his forehead and another on the gentle curve of his cheekbone.  The color was a perfect match to the shade Izo was nonchalantly reapplying on himself.  Off to the side, Eric was laughing his ass off at the flabbergasted look on Ace’s face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You started it, but I might’ve told them about your goodbye-kisses, Ace,” he admitted, tossing his ex-Captain the green hilted dagger he had returned to pick up.  Words escaped Ace for a moment as he fumbled with the dagger, still trying to process exactly what just happened.  Marco shooed everyone back to what they were previously doing, as they shouted their good-lucks over their shoulders.  There were no goodbyes, those had already been taken care of.  Marco approached Ace with every intention of making sure he was alright before sending him off to start his mission for real.  His amusement died down when he noticed the fire-user’s bottom lip was wobbling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ace, yoi?” he asked softly, his worries evaporating when Ace’s lips twitched up into a genuine smile.  It was small, but it spoke volumes.  Marco saw his chance and couldn’t help himself from leaning in and kissing Ace tenderly on the cheek, hearing his breath hitch as one more pirate professed his love for him.  “We’ll be waiting for you when you come back, yoi,” Marco said simply, turning to leave him there without further preamble.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace pressed his hat down over his eyes, trying not to explode as happiness filled every inch of his body.  He swung his legs over the side of the Moby again, looking back long enough to make eye contact with his Pops.  Whitebeard’s smile was amorous, expressing all of his fondness and love for Ace without actually having to say anything to his youngest son.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A grin stretched across the young man’s face and he tossed himself off the side, skimming away on Striker with a warmth that had nothing to do with his flames settling in his chest.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!  Leave a kudo or a comment and let me know what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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